


Brush Away the Sorrow

by Cozette



Category: The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, Spoilers, Violet's POV, swears
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-19
Updated: 2019-06-04
Packaged: 2020-03-08 03:18:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 9
Words: 11,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18886099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cozette/pseuds/Cozette
Summary: Violet dashes to the car and throws herself on her belly to peer through the window. Whatever she had been expecting, this was not it. Maybe a couple of dirty raiders. Maybe that couple from the train station. But definitely not a girl no older than her and a kid younger than Tennessee.  ‘Fuck! Marlon they’re kids!’ She yells.‘Fuck!’ Marlon curses before his face appears opposite of hers in the passenger window. ‘Vi we have to go.’Violet glances behind her. The walkers would be here any minute. ‘And leave them behind?’





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is the game, told from Violet's POV. Timeline is slightly expanded but is intact and, obviously, liberties are taken. I won't give my decision tree but this is dystopia so expect a lot of angst.

Normally, Violet liked being on lookout duty. She could sit somewhere high and look. She’d been just looking for so many years, her eyes could check every trap, every bottle neck, every open space without her mind even noticing. She could escape the chatter of the other students and just think. 

 

_ ‘Brody!’ Violet calls out, jogging to catch up with her best friend. ‘Hey Brody!’  _

 

_ The other girl turns to look at her, waiting for Violet to catch up, ‘what’s up Vi?’  _

 

_ Violet pushes a tuft of hair behind one ear and shuffles her feet. She hates asking for favors. Even stupid small ones like switching daily tasks. ‘Do you think… you could… um maybe switch tasks with me today?’  _

 

_ Brody smiles warmly, ‘you want to work in the greenhouse again?’  _

 

_ Violet shrugs and then nods. She had been trading shifts with just about everyone over the last few weeks as she worked on a secret project. A project that would be ready tonight, if Violet could spend the day in the greenhouse.  _

 

_ Brody shrugs, ‘sure. It makes no difference to me. What have you got?’  _

 

_ ‘Supply run. With Minnie, Soph and Marlon.’ Violet supplies quietly.  _

 

_ ‘I’m surprised you don’t want to go with the girls,’ the other girl replies with just a hint of teasing in her voice. Violet blushes, clapping her hand to the back of her neck and murmurs some kind of excuse. Brody is good natured enough to drop it. Not like Louis had. Or Marlon. They both took any opportunity to rile Violet up, even going so far as to serenade her sappy love songs one night under the full moon. Minnie had thrown a bucket of water on them to shut them up but Violet swears Louis still hums it any time she’s not looking.  _

 

_ ‘Well you better take these then, Ms. Martin asked me to bring some up from the fishing shed.’ Brody shoved the bag of dirt she’d been carrying in to Violet’s arms, along with a bottle of pest control.  _

 

Normally, Violet likes being alone to think. But she really doesn’t like today’s thoughts. Which is why when an explosion echos in the late afternoon, rocking the wall beneath her, she isn’t even all that mad. Marlon is just organizing a scouting party when a second boom echos through the woods, accompanied by the sound of metal grating. Violet can’t be sure, it’s been so long since she heard one, but it almost sounded like a car crash. Violet gladly volunteers to go scout, leaving her post to Tenn. 

 

The walk through the woods with Marlon, Louis and Aasim is tense. Walkers would be on their way, drawn by the sound. Smoke billows from two spots, darkening the sky. The larger smoke stack seemed to be coming from the abandoned train station. The smaller wasn’t far from it, just down the road. At the concrete path, Aasim and Louis break for the train station. Marlon and Violet make their way down the road towards the smoke. They stick to the trees, keeping their ears open for the walkers. What they find makes Violets jaw drop. 

 

A car. A real working car. Or it must have been working a few minutes ago. Now the thing was flipped upside down, crashed into a tree, crawling with walkers. Violet shoots Marlon a look. It only takes a moment to communicate their plan. Marlon loops left, shooting walkers on the passenger side. 

 

Violet goes right, looping to the drivers side. Three walkers are stumbling their way forward. Violet catches the first one from behind, bringing her cleaver, Lulu, down on the zombies head, cracking skull and sinking in to grey matter with a deafening squelch. The sound caught the other two walkers attention. Violet pulled Lulu from the first zombie and backed up two spaces. The second zombie hesitated between her and the car. Violet heard a groan coming from inside. She needed to get the zombies to leave the car alone. 

 

‘Hey! Fuck you!’ Violet called, softly enough to not attract more walkers from the woods but loud enough to get the other two zombies attention. Violet kicks the legs out from one walker before driving her cleaver down. As she pulls Lulu out, she lets her upward momentum knock the third zombie back. Then Violet pounces bringing Lulu down just between the last zombies eyes, feeling the decaying flesh lose its tension. A quick glance at Marlon tells her that his side is under control. 

 

Violet dashes to the car and throws herself on her belly to peer through the window. Whatever she had been expecting, this was not it. Maybe a couple of dirty raiders. Maybe that couple from the train station. But definitely not a girl no older than her and a kid younger than Tennessee.  ‘Fuck! Marlon they’re kids!’ She yells. 

 

‘Fuck!’ Marlon curses before his face appears opposite of hers in the passenger window. ‘Vi we have to go.’ 

 

Violet glances behind her. The walkers would be here any minute. ‘And leave them behind?’ Violet looked at the little boy. He seemed okay. He looked so much like Tennessee when they had first met. Violet couldn’t leave a five year old to be eaten by walkers. She looks at Marlon’s face. It was guarded. His brows were furrowed. Not for the first time, Violet wonders what Marlon is really thinking. She meets his eyes. She’ll fight if she has to, but she isn’t leaving these kids behind. Not when they reminded her so much of Tennessee and… Minnie. Something softens in Marlon's face and for a moment, he reminds her of the kid she met her first day at Ericson's. Then it's replaced by the hardened mask Marlon seems to wear all the time now. He pulls his knife from his pocket and starts sawing at the boy’s seat belt. 

 

Violet glances at the girl beside her. Her face was half covered in blood, her curly brown hair matted in it. She couldn’t have been more than 16. She's pretty, even if she's pretty beat up. The girls skin was obviously lighter than the boys but still dark enough that Violet wondered if they could share some distant relationship. Cousins maybe? 

 

Violet begins working Lulu around the girl and her seat belt. She vaguely hears the girl murmur something. She thinks it might be a name. The boys name perhaps? Catching the girl as she fell wasn’t simple, especially trying to keep her from further busting her head. Hauling her from the wreckage was. Like most people, she was far too thin. 

 

Marlon has the boy free and thrown over one shoulder, his bow and knife on his other hand. Violet manages to get the girl up to her chest and begins pulling. Thankfully, it isn’t long before they run in to Louis and Aasim who manage to lift the girl between the two of them. Violet takes point then, Lulu whirling as she takes down walker after walker, heading home. 

 


	2. Chapter 2

The boy, AJ, heals quickly, rousing almost as soon as he’s laid on the bunk. He gives them all a scare when he throws himself from bed like a rabid animal, reaching for a gun that isn’t there any more. Violet is the one who catches him when he tries to throw himself at the girl.  The girl on the other hand... Ruby tells them all that she’s in rough shape. Tells them there’s nothing more they can do. Tells them that she tied Clementine up, just in case. AJ bit Ruby then, called the red head a liar. Ruby swore, sounding so much like the Ruby of the old days that Violet almost smiles. But then AJ starts to cry and it sounds so much like Tennessee did after…. Violet excuses herself, climbing to the top of the bell tower, hoping the sobs wouldn’t follow her.

Clementine, he calls her. Violet almost remembers the sticky sweet taste of the small oranges.

They go back to the car a few days after bringing AJ and Clementine in. They grab all the supplies they can, including AJ’s gun. Best case scenario, they could give the girl back her knife. Worst case scenario, they had a few extra supplies. 

It takes Clementine longer, much longer, to recover. Violet knows because Violet is the one who covers all of Ruby and Tenn’s usual duties while they took care of Clementine. A task made more difficult by the attention Clementine's accident drew to the area. A whole herd of walkers, agitated and hungry. Of course, Louis and Ruby had it worse. They had to look after AJ. The boy was cagey. Prone to hitting or worse, biting, those who snuck up on him. Only Louis and his piano playing really seemed to calm the boy down. In other words, Violet liked him.

The first time Violet sees Clementine out of bed, Violet is on lookout duty again. From her spot on the wall, she can see their zombie and raider traps. She can see Ericson’s outer fence, the odd walker or two, the long driveway and if she looks behind her, the school's courtyard. It used to be neatly trimmed stone pavers and a somewhat elegant fountain that gave the school that rich-kid boarding school feeling, as opposed to the troubled-anarchists vibe it had now with weeds overgrowing the stones and ivy climbing the walls. Clementine steps in to the morning light, with a blue baseball hat. Violet hates baseball but Clementine looks good in that cap. It’s beat up, the blue and white are both so faded they might as well be gray but with her pony tail sticking out from one side. She looks good. Really good. Violet feels her cheeks burning and turns back to the traps. 

Violet doesn’t like that thought. It feels like she’s betraying Minnie. Or forgetting her. And Violet swore she would never forget. Tenn might think there’s a place after walkers. Violet didn’t know about that but she knew that as long as she kept Minnie alive in her mind… as long as she remembered…. Violet closes her eyes against the morning light filtering through the trees. 

_ Minnie sings to the fish. Her voice is sweet and soulful, filling the forest with some intoxicating sense of bitter sweetness. It’s almost unbearable and then there’s a thud. The sound of spear impaling fish flesh, the splash of the fish as it fights its captivity and then the thunk of it’s lifeless body hitting the bucket.  _

_ ‘That’s probably enough fish for tonight,’ Minnie says. She shoves her hair back from her sweating face and grins at Violet with that twinkle in her eye that makes Violet’s stomach flutter. ‘And we still have some time before we get back!’ Minnie wiggles her eyebrows to exaggerate the point. Violet can feel the heat creeping up her cheeks, though she isn’t entirely certain the cause.  _

_ Minnie leads them back to the old shack. She puts the bucket on the table, grabs both of their spears and leans them against the wall. Then Minnie takes her hand. Violet tries not to gasp, tries not to be shocked by how soft and warm and comfortable Minnie’s hand was. It was the apocalypse after all and things had been so shitty for so long… Violet wasn’t sure she knew what comfort felt like any more. And then Minnie came along. Well ‘came along’ is probably the wrong word. She had always been there, from Violet’s first day at Ericson. She had been smart, sarcastic, and cold but so heart wrenching beautiful. Violet had liked her from the moment they met. And then people stopped dying, zombies walked the fucking Earth, the adults lost their fucking minds and they had all spent so long just trying to survive. And then one night, Minnie had kissed her. They had both been sad because Erin and Jasper had gone out hunting and never came back. But that moment, that kiss, it had sparked something deep inside Violet. Suddenly Violet had a reason to make Ericson work. To make it a home.  _

_ Minnie tugs her toward the old mattress on the floor, shooting her a grin as she goes. Violet wants so badly to kiss Minnie again. She almost does. And then Minnie pulls out a knife. ‘I’m going to make a surprise for you, okay Vi? Close your eyes.’ Violet meets Minnie’s soft blue eyes and obediently closes her own. There were some who would call her stupid for closing her eyes around one of Ericson’s famous troubled youths but they just didn’t know Minnie. Violet can hear a scratching sound, grating which is almost as annoying as it is nerve wracking. Finally, Minnie murmurs, ‘open your eyes, Vi.’  _

_ Carved in the wall of the fishing shack was a rough heart with an arrow running through it with the initials V + M. Violet’s eyes get blurry looking at that heart, carved so confidently in the wood, looking strangely permanent. Minnie watches her, reading her reaction. Violet can’t think of anything to say so she decides to go for a kiss instead. Minnie hums happily against her lips and Violet thinks that she made the right decision.  _

Violet can almost feel the warmth of Minnie’s lips against hers if she tries. If she really thinks about it. And then a voice breaks Violet’s concentration, a voice Violet recognizes precisely because she can’t recognise it. Clementine’s. 

‘Uh hi there.’ 


	3. Chapter 3

Clementine is looking up at her with liquid amber eyes. She’s beautiful. Violet hates that she’s beautiful. ‘What do you want?’ It comes out harsher than Violet means it to. Most of her words do these days. 

The younger girl seems relatively unfazed, ‘Ruby… the red haired girl with the tongue of fire? She said to go find AJ. Something about him being a holy terror.’ The girl crosses her right hand over to her left elbow, like she’s steadying herself. ‘She said he bit her which seems really out of character.’ 

Violet can’t help but to grin at that, ‘really? Because he’s bitten about half of us.’ To prove her point, Violet holds up a hand with a bandage on her third finger. 

Clementine’s mouth dropped. She makes a motion to grab at Violet’s hand before stopping herself. A slight pink tinge coloured her cheeks. ‘I am so, so sorry. He’s never bit anyone before.’  

Violet shrugs turning back to the forest. She feels bad leaving it like that so she murmurs, ‘decent survival instinct.’ Violet doesn’t check to see if Clementine heard her. 

‘Right,’ Clementine says from below. ‘So, if you don’t mind me asking, where are we? What is this place? Who are you?’ 

Violet’s eyebrows raise. Ruby certainly wasn’t one to keep her mouth shut. Not that Ruby was a gossip. No she was just… like Texas. Overly friendly and just as deadly. She still believed in niceties and manners. ‘It was a boarding school. Ericson’s School for Troubled Youth.’ Violet doesn’t watch Clementine’s face for a reaction. There wasn’t a kid alive today that wasn’t ‘troubled’ thanks to the damn zombie apocalypse. 

‘Huh, guess AJ and I will fit right in.’ Clementine says with a chuckle. Violet glances down at her. AJ was trouble, definitely - violent and angry. But Clementine? She didn’t look like trouble. At least not the kind you’d peg as trouble from a distance but Violet thinks she can see it. A slight upturn in her smile, a mischievous twinkle in her eye. She might just be the most dangerous kind of trouble… the kind that made you happy to go along with them. Like Louis. Like Minnie. Clementine sighs and says something about finding AJ that Violet almost misses. 

Pointing at the largest of the blocks of buildings, Violet says, ‘AJ is probably with Louis. Follow the music.’ 

Clementine nods then raises a hand to the back of the neck, ‘you probably already know this… but I’m Clementine. It’s nice to meet you.’ 

‘Violet.’ 

A pink tinge is definitely creeping up the younger girls cheeks now. ‘Ruby said you were one of the kids who pulled us out. Of the wreck. I just…’ Clementine pauses, scuffling her feet. ‘Thank you. You saved our lives.’ 

Heat rises in Violet’s cheeks. She makes a yeah-yeah motion then shoos the younger girl away. Violet hadn’t saved them for Clementine. She did it for AJ. And maybe for Minnie. And maybe a tiny bit for herself. But definitely not for Clementine or her gorgeous almond shaped eyes or perfect curly hair.  

The rest of the day passes in relative peace. Tenn stops by. Asks her if there are any more art supplies. She doesn’t say anything to him but she thinks she remembers there being a big box of them at the top of Sophie and Minnie’s closet. If she’s right, they’ll make a good surprise. If she can bring herself to get them. In Minnie’s room. After she…. Violet doesn’t let herself complete that thought because she doesn’t know. 

_ It’s Ms. Martin who tells her. That’s the thing that bothers Violet. Not Brody, her supposed best friend. Not Marlon, the supposed leader. Fucking Ms. Martin. Who had told her she and Minnie were ‘unnaturally’ close. Who clucked her tongue and told them to ‘leave space for the Lord’ every time she caught them touching.  _

_ Violet spent the whole day in the greenhouse. Actually she’d spent day after day after day in the greenhouse for weeks. She had a near constant smell of fertilizer that just lingered around her and dirt packed so thoroughly under her nails that Violet is nearly positive it will never come out. Sure she had been tending their vegetables, building trellises for the tomatoes, drying the herbs and rotating dirt to keep it all growing optimally. But between all that Violet had carefully cultivated a venus fly trap as a gift for Minnie.  _

_ Sure it seemed a bit dumb. It wasn’t super romantic like a rose bush or some shit. But it fit the zombie apocalypse. A tough as shit plant that was equal parts beautiful? Not to mention it was named after the Goddess of love. It fit Minnie too. It didn’t hurt that it had been the only non-food related seed that had took despite Violet’s varied attempts. So, yeah, Violet had grown a venus fly trap for her girlfriend.  _

_ She’d just finished potting the damn thing when Ms. Martin came. Violet had seen that look on her face enough times to know. After twenty two losses you started to pick up on these things.  _

_ ‘Who?’ Violet began.  _

_ But Ms. Martin had shook her head, her lips pressed tight. ‘Go find Tenn. We have to tell him his sisters are gone.’ _

_ That was it. No ‘sorry for your loss’. No ‘I know you were close’. Just the love of your life is gone. Missing. Dead. Maybe a walker. And Violet had gone. Mostly because finding Tenn, taking care of Tenn. Well… that was what Minnie would have wanted.  _

That was actually the worst part. Violet had no idea what had happened to them. Had they died? Like actually died? Were they walkers? Would she find them in the woods one day? Have to take them out with Lulu? Violet doesn’t think she could do that. She might just go with them if that happened. Or worse, were they out there wounded and alone and feeling abandoned? Like their friends, like Violet had given up on them? 

The sun is setting, leaving the sky a dusky gray. A feeling of dread settles in to the core of Violet's stomach. By the time night falls, Violet realises what it is. Something life or death - the hunting party should have been back hours ago. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay. So this is gonna be a slow burn of two soft messes. If you aren't down with that then maybe wait until I've posted more. 
> 
> Trigger warning: canon typical violence directed at zombies.

Violet tried to peer through the darkness of the woods to spot the hunters while Marlon gathered the ‘troops’. Tenn and Willie came running first, both with a bow. They would stay inside the outer fence and shoot walkers if they could. In the corner of her eye, Violet saw Ruby hurrying to the administration building. She would set up the infirmary just in case. After a few minutes, Louis, Marlon, AJ and Clementine walked up. 

‘Any sign of them?’ Louis asks first. Violet shakes her head. 

Marlon looks at Clementine his head half cocked, ‘if you’re feeling up to it, we sure could use your help Clementine.’ He seems to be weighing her answer. 

‘Sure.’ Clementine says easily but her face is grim. Her eyes are already taking in the trees, looking at the walkers. ‘Sure seem to be a lot of walkers out there.’ 

‘Maybe because somebody drew their attention,’ Violet says, ‘you know, with a car crash?’ Shit. She doesn’t mean it to come off so harsh. 

‘Easy now.’ Louis says with a placating motion and a stupid smile. He likes her, Violet realises almost immediately, followed by an immediate sense of jealousy. 

Clementine looks at her boots, ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t exactly plan for any of that to happen.’ 

Marlon pushes open the inner gates and begins heading towards the outer gates. ‘We’ll have push out from the gates, try to keep a semi-circle clear. No walkers behind us. If we can keep a safe zone they might be able to make it.’ Marlon walks quickly and Violet half jogs to keep up. ‘The boys will cover us from above but keep it stealthy. Don’t want to draw any more attention than necessary. Clementine cover our left flank. Just to the trees. Don’t go beyond. We can’t afford to lose anyone else if the others don’t make it. Louis will be to your right, he’ll keep an eye on you. Vi you’ve got center. If they’re on the path they should come that way. I’ll cover our right.’ They pause at the gate, catching their breath and steadying their nerves. 

‘Clem?’ A small voice says, ‘what about me?’ Violet almost jumps out of her skin. She wants to tell the boy to turn around but her still hurting finger reminds her that this particular boy doesn’t take orders well from others. Violet tries to feign disinterest but a five year old had no business in a field of walkers and she would throttle Clementine if she let him go out there. 

Clementine kneels down to look the boy in the eyes, ‘you can’t come with me. I need you to do something else that’s super important.’ The boy balls his fists and looks like he’s going to fight but Clementine continues. ‘I need you to be our eyes. The rest of us will be busy fighting so you need to be on the lookout for the hunters. You also have to watch our backs if any walkers break through, point them out to Willie or Tenn.’ The boy considers this, as if he’s trying to parse out a lie in her words, then he nods and steps to the side. Violet is genuinely impressed. Mitch would have smacked a bow on Willie and told him to go kill something. Sophie and Minnie would have told Tenn he was too young to do anything important. 

Violet meets Clementine’s eyes and shrugs, ‘you know you’re not half bad, considering the circumstances and all.’ 

It’s too dark to tell if Clementine is blushing but Violet thinks she can hear it in the soft ‘thanks’ that Clementine murmurs. 

With that settled the four of them exit through the outer gate. Violet hears Louis introduce ‘Chairles’, a beaten up old chair leg that Louis had embedded nails in at the top to create a rough mace. It was good enough for walkers but Violet opted to stick with Lulu. She heard Clementine chuckle in response just as Violet laid eyes on the first walker. Violet took it out with one solid swing, embedding Lulu in the back of the walkers skull. 

Killing walkers was not Violet’s favorite. It was smelly. It was messy. And Violet could never help but think of who the walker used to be. A parent. A sibling. A friend. A lover. Was somebody out there, right now, fighting a Minnie walker? But when it came down to her friends or the walkers there was no question. 

Violet does her best to keep track of her friends. Marlon stabbing with one arrow before shooting another. Louis swinging chairles at a cluster of walkers. Clementine taking out the knees of a walker before bringing her hunting knife up through the skull. But it all starts to blur together. Every minute the other’s aren’t back, every minute they’re out fighting walkers, is a minute that someone could get bit. 

Violet has no idea how long but she finally hears AJ call out, ‘there! The hunters!’ Violet risks a glance. Fighting through the trees was the slight flicker of a torch moving quickly along the path towards them. 

‘Cover the path!’ Marlon calls, closing in on Violet’s right while Clementine and Louis guard the left. At the moment, the area is cleared of mobile walkers. Brody comes first. Over her left shoulder is a hare and in her right hand a torch. Behind her, Mitch and Aasim backed up shoulder to shoulder keeping the bulk of the walkers away between their bow and knife. Brody doesn’t stop when she reaches Violet, just keeps barreling forward towards the gate. If she could get the torch safely behind school walls, the darkness could protect the others. 

Mitch and Aasim have almost made it to Violet and Clementine when Aasim stumbles. A walker grabs his jacket, pulling him forward. Mitch doesn’t realise until he’s too far gone but Clementine dashes forward and slams her knife through the walkers eye. An arrow sprouts in the walker behind them giving Clementine and Aasim just enough time to escape. 

As they fall in, the circle caves in towards the gate. Violet can hear Aasim and Marlon talking about the safe zone. Ever since Minnie and Sophie had disappeared Marlon’s ‘safe zone’ had gotten smaller and smaller. It made finding food harder and harder. Aasim wanted to go beyond the safe zone and that terrified Marlon. So basically, it was their nightly argument. Personally, Violet understood Marlon’s fear. He had taken responsibility for them, all of them. His job was protecting them just as much as Aasim’s job was hunting and Ruby’s was healing. But they had to follow the food. They couldn’t stay in some arbitrary boundary. Not that anyone asked Violet. 

Violet ended up with Louis and Clementine beside her. ‘Everyone is still standing I see,’ Louis’s tone is light but Violet can hear the undertones of relief. Hell she feels it herself. Louis turns to her with a mischievous twinkle in his eye and Violet knows she is going to want to smack him for whatever he says next. ‘I’d call that a B plus performance there Vi.’ He throws a wink at her and says ‘you’ve done better.’ 

Violet feels her stomach drop. She couldn’t believe Louis was grading them. Louis who failed every fucking course he took. Violet flips him her bandaged middle finger, ‘fuck off.’ 

Louis gasps dramatically and grabs at his chest as though he had been shot through the heart making Violet roll her eyes. ‘B minus then.’ Then he turns to Clementine ‘Now Clem here?’ He throws her a dazzling smile, ‘that was a solid A. A plus even.’ Louis elbows Violet ‘don’t be jealous Vi. Be better.’ Violet knows he means it teasingly but sometimes she really wants to punch Louis in the face. 

Clementine leans around Louis to peer at Violet, ‘Um you kicked ass Violet. A plus.’ Violet just stares at her for a moment, this dopey grin spreads on Clementine’s face like she can’t believe she just thought of that. Violet can’t help but to smile back. 

‘I know,’ Violet says, brushing a hand against the back of her neck. ‘Lulu and I always kick ass.’ 

‘Lulu?’ Clementine asks. 

‘Her cleaver,’ Louis says slightly disgusted, as though Lulu was somehow a worse name than Chairles, ‘and you’re both delusional.’ 

‘Do you guys all have a name for your weapons?’ There’s laughter in Clementine’s voice as she asks it. ‘Is Marlon’s bow named Big Bertha or something?’ 

Marlon must have heard them because he calls back, ‘her name is Opal and don’t you forget it.’ 

‘Seriously?’ Clementine chortles. ‘Like Opal of my eye?’ 

Louis grins, ‘only opal he’s going to get!’ 

‘I heard that!’ Marlon says before ducking in to the gates. Violet slips in last, locking the gate behind them. Safe, at last. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prepare for the sads. 
> 
> Trigger warning for grief and loss of loved ones.

It doesn’t take the other’s long to recount their stories. Their traps were empty or sabotaged. They had to spend most of the day resetting and repairing and then go find food. They’d managed to catch a rabbit but not before dusk came, along with the herd. The other’s begin to argue. Violet figures nothing they say will change any one’s minds. 

They didn’t know who was raiding their traps but whoever it was, lived beyond the safe zone. They couldn’t track them down without leaving the safe zone. Marlon refused to let that happen so unless they caught whoever it was in the act… well then it didn’t matter. The thing that worried Violet was the look on Marlon’s face. Like he had seen a ghost. Or worse. Like he knew whatever was raiding them was worse than possible starvation. Aasim and Mitch wanted a fight. An enemy to take down. Marlon, Brody and Ruby wanted to keep everyone safe. Which left Violet, Louis and Omar in an ever rotating game of Chinese checkers doing fucking nothing. Violet might have stayed to hear what Clementine thought, not that she cared, but the younger girl had excused herself right away to talk with AJ. 

So instead Violet went to gather some flowers. She and Tenn had wanted to pay their respects to Minnie and Sophie tonight. To remember their loss. Flowers weren’t much. Weren’t even close to enough being enough. But it was something. 

On the far side of the school, away from the greenhouse, where the old soccer field was, flowers grew in thick clumps. They weren’t the fancy cultivated kind. They were wild and sometimes battered. Their stems stuck out at odd angles from being stepped on, petals drooped in places or were outright missing. But Violet kind of liked that. They were tough. They survived in a world of walkers. And yet they added some small amount of beauty and comfort to it. It was a thought Minnie could get behind or so Violet hoped. 

As Violet picked her flowers, she sings softly. She sings Minnie’s song to the flowers and stars, hoping somehow, some where, they would bring Minnie and Sophie peace. 

 

_ Never mind the darkness.  _

_ Never mind the storm.  _

_ Never mind the blood red moon.  _

 

_ The night will be over soon.  _

_ The night will be over soon.  _

 

_ Brush away the sorrow.  _

_ Brush away the tears.  _

 

Violet’s voice wavered on the next line. 

 

_ Sing away your heavy heart.  _

 

_ The night will be over soon.  _

_ The night will be over soon.  _

 

Violet wipes at the wet spots on her cheek. They’d been gone a year. A whole fucking year. Violet doesn’t know how to feel about that. In some ways, she’d adjusted. Her heart didn’t contract in a vice grip at breakfast every morning when Minnie wasn’t there. She wasn’t so completely numb she wondered if she would ever feel anything again. She could do her day to day things without breaking down. 

But sometimes it all came rushing back. Tenn would draw a picture like Sophie. Or Louis would play something Minnie used to sing. And then pain would flood in, roaring through her heart, as fresh as the day she lost them. And the thing that scares Violet the most is knowing that one day that life without them would be more normal than life with them. That she would forget that Minnie always tucked her hair behind her left ear when she was feeling nervous. That Sophie could make you feel better just by walking in the room. Violet worries that she’ll forget who she was when she was with them. More alive. Kinder. Better. 

Louis’s words from earlier echo in her mind, ‘be better.’ Violet is trying but she’s afraid the best part of her died with Minnie. 

‘Violet?’ Tenn’s voice interrupts her thoughts, ‘are you ready?’ Tenn is holding a drawing to his chest and is looking at Violet softly. Violet loves that about him. The world hasn’t made him hard yet. 

‘Yeah bud. Let’s do it.’ Violet murmurs, giving a surreptitious wipe to her cheeks again. 

In the main courtyard, the kids have mostly broken off into groups. Omar and Louis are cooking, Omar has that slightly stressed look on his face like he knows tonight is going to be a lean night. Aasim is behind them, scribbling in his book by the fire light. Ruby is beside him, warming her hands. Behind them on the couch they dragged out, Mitch and Willie are laughing at something AJ said. Clementine stands behind AJ, hand on his shoulder, reassuring him. Marlon and Brody are off to the other side. They seem to be arguing. Violet can’t hear them but she can see it in the straightness of Marlon’s shoulders and the hands on Brody’s hips. Rosie lies between the pair, tail wagging in the dirt. 

Violet and Tenn head towards the makeshift graveyard in the west courtyard. There were too many headstones there. Most of them without bodies. Kids who went missing and just never came home. The last two mounds at the end of the row were just as empty. Just a few prized possessions. But they had buried them anyways. Violet handed Tenn the first bouquet of flowers as he knelt by Sophie’s grave. Violet stepped back, giving the boy space. 

After some time, soft steps walk up behind Violet. She’s surprised. No one had ever come with them to pay their respects before. 

‘What is this?’ AJ asks, his voice sounding so little in the dark and dead space. 

‘It’s a graveyard,’ Clementine whispers back softly, ‘it’s where they bury the people they loved.’ 

‘Oh. That’s sad.’ AJ is quiet for a moment then he asks, ‘who were they?’ 

‘Sophie and Minnie.’ Violet says quietly, nodding at the mounds, ‘those are Tenn’s sisters. Well, their belongings.’ 

‘Tenn’s sisters died?’ AJ asks softly, sounding sad. 

Violet doesn’t want to answer that. She can’t explain it. 

‘They went missing.’ Tenn says, back to collect the second bouquet. ‘They went out raiding and never came home.’ 

AJ turns towards the boy, ‘what are you doing?’ 

Tenn doesn’t answer so Violet does, ‘we’re paying our respects.’ 

‘Oh,’ AJ says. He turns behind him to look up at Clementine. ‘Should we do that too?’ 

Violet sees the emotion flash across the girls face. She knew grief alright. ‘Yeah, AJ. I think that would be a very kind thing to do.’ Tenn hands AJ the flowers and leads him to Minnie’s grave. 

Clementine watches, sadness on her face and etched in to the slump of her shoulders. Violet doesn’t know why but Violet speaks softly to the girl, ‘they were twins. We lost them both about a year ago.’ 

‘I’m sorry for your loss,’ Clementine whispers softly. Her voice is soft, tender, and Violet isn't entirely certain Clementine's talking to Violet. 

Violet doesn’t respond but Tenn murmurs a timid ‘thanks’ as he places his drawing on their graves. AJ settles the flowers and they stand together. 

‘Do you miss them?’ AJ asks Tenn bluntly. 

Clementine’s eyes go wide. She opens her mouth to speak, perhaps to tell AJ off but Violet catches her eye and shakes her head. 

‘Yeah I do.’ Tenn says thoughtfully, ‘but when it gets bad I just draw a picture of them together in a happy place and that helps.’ The boy's eyebrows furrow but he continues, ‘and when it gets really, really bad, I have Violet.’ The boy beams up at Violet and she smiles back at him. They had gone through many rough nights together but they were fewer and further between these days. 

The boys begin to walk towards the main courtyard, Violet and Clementine behind them. ‘Drawing?’ AJ asks. 

‘Yeah!’ Tenn’s voice cracks with excitement, ‘I’ll show you, come on!’ 

The boys pick up their pace, rounding the corner in to the main courtyard well before the girls. Clementine grabs Violet’s elbow, stopping the older girl in her tracks. Violet can’t see her eyes in the moonlight, which is unfortunate. 

Clementine clears her throat, ‘I’m sorry if we interrupted back there.’ 

Violet shook her head, ‘it’s okay. It’s good for Tenn.’ 

‘AJ too. I don’t think he’s ever been around another kid even close to his age.’ Clementine offers a shaky smile, as though trying to apologise for her kid’s bad socialising habits during the zombie apocalypse. 

Violet wants to offer her some reassurance but before she finds the words, Louis pops his head around the corner and calls, ‘dinner is ready!’ Clementine smiles warmly at Violet, the lines of her face highlighted by the moonlight above. Making the smile some how deeper and sadder. 

Violet doesn’t really taste her dinner. She’s thinking. About wild flowers, grieving boys, and warm moonlit smiles.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This conversation turned out to be super long so posting it in two shots! Sorry not sorry!

At some point during Clementine’s recovery, Marlon had asked the group to find out what they can about the duo, in a non-threatening way. They needed to know if the pair was a threat and, if so, how. Were they too weak to do what needed to be done? Violet doubted that after seeing Clementine in action. Were they a liability to the group, the bottom of the herd. It was a reasonable assumption of a five year old. But there was a comfort in the way AJ held his gun that made Violet think he would give as good as he got. 

Or were they so hardened that they had no empathy left for others, willing to steal and kill even from a bunch of kids. Violet knew people like that before the apocalypse. People so hardened by life and its troubles they didn’t care about anyone. Hell half the staff at Ericson’s had been that way. Too many delinquent kids, too many hard problems and not enough hope. The walkers just made everything worse. It was harder to judge for Clementine and AJ.  Clementine had survived somehow. Made it out there alone, somehow. And Violet had a feeling that, that had meant making a lot of hard calls and tough choices. And AJ? God. All the kid knew was  _ this.  _ Walkers and killing and never having enough. How could a kid like that not be hard? One thing Violet was absolutely certain of - they would do anything for each other. Which was fine as long as they stayed on their good side. Like a mama bear and her cub, Violet thinks. 

Louis had come up with the idea. A game of cards, loser tells all. It was a dumb idea but Violet was in. After all, she hadn’t been beaten at cards yet and she was, admittedly, curious about Clementine. And AJ. So when Louis invites her to join, she slides Tenn the last of her dinner and heads over to the others. 

Brody stalks off in disgust, scoffing at the cards. She had strong feelings about cards. Religious feelings. It wasn’t a concept Violet understood, being offended by paper, but everyone honored their past in the their own ways. It probably didn’t help that their games often ended with someone stripping but that was all in good fun. Violet settles in across from Clementine just as Marlon asks, ‘what’s the game tonight Lou?’ 

A big grin cover’s Louis’s face and Violet has to fight a pre-emptive eye roll. The boy was nothing if not dramatic so Violet was certain whatever came out of his mouth would be the same. ‘The oldest game around. A game played by man and beast alike. The only game there is,’ Louis pauses for dramatic effect, then in a lower deeper tone he finishes, ‘war!’ 

Violet groans. War was only like the most boring, most skill-less game ever. Clementine tilts her head, reminding Violet of Rosie, and raises an eyebrow, ‘I take it you don’t like the game.’ 

Violet shrugs. Louis shoots her a look that screams be cool. ‘Well we will just have to raise the stakes. Winner gets to ask Clem a question.’ 

Violet can’t read the look on Clementine’s face but it isn’t surprise. Violet thinks she’s sussed their plan out to do some non threatening digging. She doesn’t seem angry about it though. Whatever it is the look fades quickly. ‘And what if I win?’ Clementine asks, arms folding over each other on the table. 

‘Then you get to ask us a question,’ Louis replies easily. Violet feels a knot tie in her stomach. That wasn’t what they agreed on. ‘It’s only fair,’ Louis finishes, glancing at Violet. 

‘Wait, what about AJ?’ Clementine asks, throwing a glance over her shoulder at the boy as he watched Tenn color a drawing, entralled. 

‘What about him?’ Marlon’s tone is light and easy, the sae tone he uses to get Rosie to relax. Violet doesn’t like that. It makes the hair on the back of her neck rise. ‘It looks like he’s made a friend.’ Marlon wasn’t wrong, AJ and Tenn did seem pretty happy together. It warmed Violet’s heart to see Tenn talking so easily again. ‘C’mon you can take your eyes off him for one card game. I’ll bet you both could use a break from one another.’ 

‘Yeah. Maybe,’ Clementine doesn’t sound completely convinced. Her eyes are still trained on the little boys back. 

‘I can watch him.’ Violet volunteers quietly, ‘I can see both of them from here and still play cards. I don’t mind if you don’t.’ 

Turning, Clementine sends her a grateful smile. ‘Thank you. He hasn’t spent time around other kids his age. He acts more like an adult than a kid sometimes so it’s good to see him act like a little boy again.’ Violet smiles back tentatively. She knows exactly what Clementine means. 

‘Louis? If you would?’ Marlon asks, prompting Louis to deal the cards. 

‘High card wins,’ Louis says. ‘We all flip at the same time. Winner takes the pile until all the others are out of cards.’ When they each have a pile in front of them Louis says, ‘draw!’ 

Their first few rounds go quickly. The questions stay light. Favorite colors, grossest things eaten, what was wrong with Marlon’s haircut. Violet had to hand it to Louis, he chose the perfect game. Easy enough to prompt a new thread when the conversation dried up but not so intense they couldn’t have a real conversation. 

Violet draws the next high card. She’d thought about her next question. It definitely would take things to the next level, ‘so about AJ….’ Clementine doesn’t throw eye darts or storm off so she continues. ‘Where are AJ’s parents? Are you like cousins or…’ Violet lets her sentence trail off. 

Violet sees the grief cross Clementine’s face, ‘we aren’t related. They died.’ 

She probably should back down, let it go but Violet presses it, ‘what happened?’ 

The younger girl looks like her minds in another place. ‘I fell in to their group a month or two before AJ was born. His parents were good people. On the run from a bad man. The man thought AJ’s mom should be with him. He killed AJ’s father.’ Clementine takes a breath. ‘His mom… we weren’t in a good place for her to give birth. Cold, dark, no food, no heat, no shelter, no medicine. She didn’t last long after. I raised AJ from then on.’ 

Sadness falls on the group. Violet looks at the back of the little boy across from her. There weren’t many happy beginnings any more. ‘I’m glad he has you,’ Violet says softly. 

‘Draw,’ Louis murmurs, sounding like even he isn’t sure he wants to continue. 

Louis draws the high card this time. Violet can tell he’s hesitating, ‘c’mon spit it out.’ 

He rocks forward in his seat, ‘so uh… ever have… a uh… boyfriend?’ 

‘Oh my god!’ Violet says hitting her forehead with her palm. Only Louis could go from dying parents to flirting back to back. 

‘What?’ Louis asks, trying to sound offended. Violet knows better though. It’s nerves. ‘It happens. Perfectly valid question. You can ask me if I’ve ever had a girlfriend, which I haven’t.’ 

‘Oh I’m sure she’s real surprised about that one,’ Violet drawls. 

Clementine stifled a giggle which makes Louis blush. Violet feels vaguely ill suddenly. ‘No.’ 

‘Never,’ Louis asks, wide eyed. 

‘Nope.’ Clementine is still smiling, ‘never had any interest.’ 

‘Oh.’ Ohhhhh. Violet smiles to herself. 

‘Not at all?’ Louis asks, cluelessly. ‘And is that for lack of options?’ 

Clementine shook her head, ‘there was a boy once. We tried some stuff and I liked him. He certainly liked me. Romantically. I just…’ Clementine shrugs, ‘I was never as in to him as he was in to me.’ 

Louis looked like a lost puppy, so Violet decided to help him out. ‘Draw.’ 

Clementine gets the next question. She looks around the table, ‘how many of there were you? At the beginning?’ 

Marlon answers that one, ‘thirty four kids. Twelve staff.’

‘They all died?’ Clementine asks, almost disbelieving. 

‘Don’t know. Most of the staff left at the start. Just left us to fend for ourselves.’ Marlon’s voice is bitter. Violet can’t blame him. It was pretty fucked up but then Violet wonders if they had families of their own to get back to. Marlon finishes, ‘the kids… well some of them died fighting. Some of them just never came back. A few set out to find their families.’ 

‘Draw.’ 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you haven't already, would love some feedback! Comments and kudos appreciated!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay - had family in town for the holiday.

Violet draws a two of spades. Definitely the low card then. A quick glance around tells her that Clementine has drawn the high card - the queen of hearts. 

‘Hey! I win again!’ Clementine exclaims. 

‘Hey! You do!’ Louis says back easily. 

Clementine meets each of their eyes before she asks, ‘how have you made it this long?’ 

Marlon shifts uncomfortably which seems odd to Violet. They hadn’t had it that bad. Comparatively. 

‘Traps,’ Louis begins, ‘traps and a greenhouse helped’. 

‘Learned to fish and to fight,’ Violet continues, ‘plus we have a decent fence and some strong walls. Makes defending the place from walkers easier.’ 

‘What about from raiders?’ Clementine asks, eyes trained on Marlon. 

He looks down easily, ‘we’ve run across them out there but for the most part Ericson’s well hidden. We took down all the signs to the school. There’s only one road in or out. The few folks who have managed to find us, haven’t been in the condition to fight a bunch of kids.’ 

It was true. Violet knew it was true but Marlon looked like he was lying through his teeth. Clementine knew it too. She raised an eyebrow and when she went to speak, Violet thought she might call him on it, instead she just says ‘Draw.’ 

Marlon draws the high card next, ‘so… Clem… you can’t have been alone this entire time. Who used to take care of you? Family? Anyone?’

Violet watches the younger girls face go through a whirlwind of emotions. Violet thinks she might shirk her answer, ‘I was 8 when all of this started. My parents were out of town. They got bit. My auntie Sandra was watching me only she got bit too. I would have died but Lee came along, looking for supplies. He took me with him. Taught me lots of things.’ 

Violet is fascinated. Clementine had been alone from the beginning just like them. ‘What did he teach you?’ Violet asks softly. 

‘To keep my hair short. To shoot a gun. To hunt.’ Clementine hesitates, her voice cracking, ‘how to say goodbye.’ 

Violet wants to reach out and pat Clementine’s hand. To offer comfort. Or something. But she doesn’t. Louis does, asking, ‘what happened?’

Clementine shrugs, ‘what always happens. He got bit. I let him turn. I couldn’t… he didn’t want me to.’ 

‘Shit. I’m sorry,’ Marlon whispers. And he sounds genuinely contrite. 

Another shrug, ‘ran with a few groups. Met AJ’s parents. After they died, it was just my friend Jane, AJ and I for a while. She taught me how to fight. Then she died too. AJ and I have been more or less on our own ever since.’ 

She’s lying. Violet can tell there’s more to the story in the way she shifts her eyes to the table and the way she rubs her arms, as if she’s trying to keep a bad memory out. Violet can’t quite bring herself to ask about it though. Instead she simply flips a card, the others following suit. 

Clementine draws the high card again. Violet is pretty sure it was the same card she drew a few rounds back. She doubts the guys notice, enthralled as they are, but Clementine catches the scowl on her face and winks. Violet should be mad about that. She was openly cheating and thought a wink could make up for it? But then again, they had gotten Clementine in to the world’s worst ice breaker so… maybe it was ok for her to cheat a bit. 

‘You said most of the staff left you?’ Clementine begins, ‘did any of them stay?’ 

Louis stretches back with a yawn, ‘Ms. Martin did.’ 

‘The school nurse.’ Marlon supplies. 

‘She helped take care of us, in the beginning. Not much of the leader type but knew plenty about injury, illness, and growing stuff.’ Louis smiles warmly at the memory, ‘she helped make us a family. Kept us from killing each other even though we were all half crazed with puberty.’ 

‘What happened to her?’ Clementine asks. 

Marlon and Louis shrug and look away. Violet meets Clementine’s eyes, ‘we’re not entirely sure. There was a walker ambush at the greenhouse. She told us to get out of there. She never came back.’ Violet hadn’t liked Ms. Martin. She wasn’t a bad person. She just didn’t like Violet ‘peculiarities’ and she made that known. Violet hoped, wherever Ms. Martin was, she had found peace but Violet wasn’t mourning her loss. 

‘Draw.’ Louis prompts. 

Violet watches Clementine draw and sure enough, there’s a few cards tucked in to her jacket sleeve. Violet shakes her head and draws the high card.

‘Victory Violet!’ she says with a smirk. ‘Here’s a question I always like to ask in groups. Out of the four of us, which one of us do you think is going to die first?’ 

‘That is fucked up.’ Louis says. 

‘Oh I know,’ Violet replies, her eyes not leaving Clementine’s face. The younger girl quirks an eyebrow. Violet quirks one back. Diplomacy would require a non-answer. Common sense would demand Clementine answer with herself as it was least likely to offend any one. 

Clementine smiles and replies ‘mmm Louis. Definitely Louis. All we need is a harvest of cantaloupe and he’ll starve to death.’ 

Louis shudders, ‘hey cantaloupe is fucking disgusting.’ The group laughs and the tension breaks. Violet is impressed. Clementine could definitely read a room. 

Louis draws the next high card and raises his arms in the air in exaggerated victory, ‘I am the greatest card player of all time!’ 

Marlon rolls his eyes, ‘alright, alright. Ask your question.’ 

‘Ever… actually never mind.’ 

Clementine glares at him. ‘What? Just ask it.’ 

‘It’s not a fun question.’

‘Just ask.’ 

Louis looks at the table, almost as if he’s ashamed of what he’s about to ask. ‘Ever had to kill someone you love?’ Violet winces. She thinks even Marlon has flinched. 

Clementine stares at Louis for a moment, thinking. Violet thinks she might not answer at all but then she does and Violet wishes she hadn’t. Wishes she could stay in the dark on this one. Maybe, just maybe some things were meant to stay in the dark. 

‘Yes. Too many.’ Clementine answers, her voice solemn.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: abuse, suicide, drinking, abandonment, emotional manipulation.

‘I think I’m going to call it a night,’ Clementine says, folding her cards. Her voice is small and tired. Violet wants to say something. Wants to rewind. She scowls at Louis - why would he ask such a stupid question? 

Clementine isn’t even out of ear shot before he looks at Marlon saying, ‘What? You wanted me to ask?’ 

Violet shakes her head. She wanted to get to know Clementine, not put the girl on trial. She watches Clementine as she gathers AJ and heads inside. She watches the pair as they walk away holding hands. 

‘I don’t like them,’ Marlon says quietly.

It catches Violet by surprise, like a sucker punch. Louis looks how she feels. His voice cracks as he asks ‘why?’ 

Marlon shrugs, ‘there’s a lot she’s not telling us. About her past. About these groups she ran with. And the boy is trouble. He sucker punched me before dinner.’ 

‘He grew up in  _ this,’  _ Violet says, gesturing around them, ‘what do you expect?’ 

Marlon shrugs his shoulders again, ‘besides, they’re more mouths to feed. We’re barely getting by as it is.’ 

‘True,’ Louis says sounding partially convinced, ‘but Clementine could help hunt for herself. Might even help us feed everyone.’ 

Marlon strokes the few short hairs on his chin, ‘maybe. They could be useful.’ His eyes look distant and cold, like he’s considering feeding them to Roise. It makes Violet shrink away from him. This just isn’t him. Not the person she once considered her best friend. 

_ Violet stares up at the giant foyer feeling shocked. Her whole trailer could fit inside the entryway of this ‘school.’ Hell. She could probably fit her trailer and her Grandma’s trailer. Violet shivers. The entryway was fairly sterile. There were enormous, cliche paintings of old white men along the wall instead of crepe paper art or colorful murals. Even their uniforms were just black and white. The whole school felt like one big personality rinse. _

_ Maybe that’s what she needs. A personality rinse. After she just let Grandma… nope. Violet can’t think about that. Not now. Her mother woke Violet before the sun rose this morning by slamming things in to a duffle bag. Violet stared at her in the dark, her eyes were dark and red from crying. She had bruises around her wrist from her father. Violet was sure there would be bruises under her clothes too. Violet let her mother pack, let her throw everything Violet owned in to two old ratty duffle bags.  _

_ When everything seemed packed, Violet mother spoke shaking Violet from her trance. ‘Get up,’ she says softly, ‘get dressed.’ She leaves with a bag in each hand. Violet wonders what would happen if she refused. But she doesn’t. They drive for ages in silence. Violet should care about where they are going. Or why her mom had only packed her things. But Violet can’t. She stares out the window watching trees pass by.  _

_ They had reached the school mid-morning. Violet’s mother disappeared to talk with the headmaster. He was a fat man with narrow eyes and smelled like garlic. Violet knew he didn’t like her which was fine by her. She didn’t like him either. They emerged from his office mid-afternoon. The garlic man called the nurse who brought with her some old uniforms. Then nurse and head master had left Violet and her mother in the entryway to say goodbye.  _

_ Her mother had tried but when she finally looked at Violet, she just started sobbing. Violet didn’t know what to say. She wanted to say she was sorry. That her mother didn’t have to send her away. But she doesn’t. Doesn’t fight. Doesn’t argue. Finally her mother manages, ‘this is for the best. I don’t want your father… I can’t let your father watch you all day.’ Something glints in her mother’s eyes but Violet can’t figure out what it is. Her mother squeezes her then and hurries off. Leaving Violet here. In the entryway. Alone.  _

_ To her left a door crashes open and two boys stumble out. They’re both about her age, maybe a bit older. One of them has a thick black permanent marker in his hand. The boys are chatting in hurried whispers, punctuated by laughter. Until they reach the entryway. Until they reach Violet.  _

_ The black boy has a mischievous grin, ‘well would you lookee here. Another one of Dickie’s play things!’  _

_ Violet doesn’t know whether to ball her fists or run away but she was no body’s plaything.  _

_ The white boy rolls his eyes, ‘don’t mind Louis. He’s an ass hole.’  _

_ The black boy, Louis, pretends to have been stabbed in the heart. ‘Ouch!’ he exclaims dramatically flailing backwards.  _

_ ‘What’s your name?’ the boy asks. His eyes are soft, reassuring.  _

_ ‘Violet,’ she says in hardly more than a whisper, staring at her toes.  _

_ ‘Shy Violet,’ Louis says with a grin.  _

_ The white boy glares at him, then asks her, ‘did you just get here?’  _

_ Violet nods.  _

_ ‘Done with the headmaster?’ Louis asks.   _

_ Violet nods again.  _

_ ‘Did he show you where to go? Where your room is?’ the white boy asks.  _

_ Violet shakes her head.  _

_ ‘Ah another one of Dear Dickies famous psychology games!’ Louis exclaims. When Violet looks at him he explains, ‘he leaves kids in the foyer to fend for themselves. He likes to see what they’re going to do. Some of them cry-’  _

_ ‘- like Louis!’  _

_ Louis ignores the interruption, ‘some of them storm off. Some of them strike out on their own. Gives Dickie up there a chance to see in to your brain. How you think. To see what makes you tick.’   _

_ Violet looks from boy to boy trying to decide if they were telling tall tales. The white boy says, ‘come on, we’ll take you to the dorms and show you around.’ He grabs one of her duffle bags. Louis grabs the other. ‘My names Marlon.’ The boy, Marlon, grins at her warmly.  _

_ ‘And I’m Louis!’ Louis smiles dazzlingly, ‘welcome to Ericson’s Boarding School for Troubled Youth!’  _

_ ‘You’re gonna love it here!’ Marlon says throwing an arm around her shoulders as he guides her out and away from the beady smelly eyes of the headmaster.  _

Violet doesn’t speak up much. Doesn’t see a point to it, really. ‘I think they should stay,’ she says softly. Both Louis and Marlon look at her, vaguely dazed. ‘I like them. I think they can help. I think they should stay.’ 

‘Wow Vi- I think that’s the most number of words you’ve said since Minnie died.’ Louis exclaims, ‘you must really like them.’ Violet flips him off. He grins. 

‘Fine,’ Marlon says waving a hand, ‘they can stay. I know when I’m overruled.’ 

Violet nods and then stands. Tenn is packing up and heading for bed. Now would be the perfect time to grab him Sophie’s old art supplies. 

Violet walks the hallway of the girls dorm. When Violet arrived, the dorm had been full. It’s just her and Brody now. Ruby had moved to the nurse’s station when Ms. Martin died. And the others had all died. It was a sad thought. An angry thought. Violet pressed on. Sophie and Minnie’s room was three doors down from hers. Violet stares at the door. Hard.She reaches for the door knob. Then pulls her hand away. Violet sighs. She can’t do it. Violet turns and walks away, her head hanging low and her heart sad. She’d figure something out for Tenn. She had to. 


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates may be sporadic for the next two ish weeks as my family leaves for vacation next week but I have all the packing and prep work to do this week! Sorry y'all!

Violet woke a bit before dawn, grey light filtering through the boards on her windows. Like most nights, she woke with a thin sheen of sweat running down her back and a feeling of terror in the back of her mind. Nightmares. It was the new normal now. They all had them, or at least, she was fairly sure everyone had them. No one else seemed to wake up bright eyed and cheery any more. Even Louis looked faintly haunted in the morning, he just managed to brush it off a bit faster than anyone else. Watching your friends kill or be killed didn’t exactly make for sweet dream material. 

A knock on the door drew Violet from beneath her covers, ‘just a minute!’ Violet shoved her legs in to her stiff jeans and threw on her vest. She opened the door to a bleary eyed Mitch. 

‘Your turn,’ the boy says stifling a yawn. He had been on the late night watch. Violet nods and leaves with him. 

‘Any trouble?’ Violet asks, keeping her voice quiet in the hallway to not wake Brody. 

‘Not really,’ Mitch shrugs, ‘bunch of fucking walkers around but nothing unusual.’ Violet nods, waving as he breaks off at the main entrance towards the boys dorm. Violet had been in the boys dorm on a few occasions. It was  _ not  _ her favorite place. It smelled, badly. Like unwashed pubescent boy. And since they had no adult supervision, the filth was overfilling some of the rooms, spilling out in to the hallway, making it hard to walk without stepping in a pile of greying underwear with suspicious stains. When Minnie and Sophie had been around, the girls had enough sway to get the boys to clean up every once in a while. Now though? Well as long as the filth stayed in their wing, the girls just didn’t have the energy to care. 

Violet crosses the courtyard, reliving her conversation with Clementine last night. The girl had killed people she loved. A lot of them. She supposed that was supposed to be the new normal. Everyone had lost someone. A lot of people had lost every one. Probably, it was the people who never had to kill someone they loved to be worried about because they clearly never loved anyone at all. Violet couldn’t hold that against her but it did trouble her. Violet shakes it off and climbs to the top of the lookout, sending Willie off to bed. 

Violet was more interested in Clementine’s ‘never had any interest’ answer about boyfriends. Last night Violet had thought that meant she hadn’t been interested in boys because she was interested in girls. She felt sure of it. But now? Well now Violet wasn’t sure. Maybe she just wasn’t interested. Period. In anybody. Or maybe she was attracted to boys but given the circumstances she wasn’t interested. Violet scowls at a walker as it walked repeatedly in to a tree stump before sprawling forward. 

What Violet needed was information. What Violet wasn’t good at was getting others to talk. Or talking to them. Or whatever it was that other people did to get that information. Violet always came off scary and intimidating when she asked questions. She also had what Sophie had called a ‘resting bitch face’ so people never just talked to her. Except Louis. But he could hold a conversation with Chairles. Violet picks up the bow Willie had left. It was roughly made, and no where near as smooth or accurate as Marlon’s, but Violet was a decent shot. That was one of the reasons she got lookout duty as often as she did. Ruby and Louis were shit shots. Violet shot at one of the walkers who stood staring at the fence, landing an arrow dead center in its forehead. The walker seemed to fall in slow motion, hitting the ground in a silent whump of dirt. 

‘Nice shot,’ a voice calls up to her. Violet can’t help but smile. She’s glad Clementine saw that and not something embarrassing. Like Violet missing. By a mile. ‘Can I come up?’ The younger girl asks. 

‘Yeah, sure.’ Violet offers with a shrug. She shuffles further out of the way and sits down, peering out below the railing.

Clementine climbs to the top and Violet gets her first look at the girl this morning. A big hunting knife strapped to her belt, her hair tucked into pig tails under her hat, and a sweet black leather jacket that Violet really likes. She still has a blood stained bandage under her cap but somehow that just makes her look more badass.  ‘Thanks, I couldn’t sleep. AJ snores like a bear.’ Clementine chuckles as she sits down next to Violet. 

‘No thing.’ Violet stumbles out. 

‘No thing?’ Clementine asks teasingly. 

_ Fuck.  _ Violet blushes, ‘I meant no big thing. Or no problem. Or whatever.’ 

‘It’s no thing,’ Clementine says back, winking at Violet with a bright smile. 

They sit silently together long enough for Violet to start to feel comfortable. Watching the sun rise over the forrest, casting deep shadows from the tree line to the fence. 

‘So what was the consensus on me last night?’ Clementine asks at last, breaking the silence, ‘did I pass your test?’ 

‘Yes,’ Violet replies. There’s no sense in denying it. She wants to warn Clementine about Marlon, about him disliking her. But she doesn’t. Marlon is her friend. He has his reasons and Violet won’t betray his trust. 

Clementine looks surprised, like she expected Violet to play coy, ‘oh. Good!’ Then Clementine smiles and Violet can’t help but to look at her, ‘I’m glad I passed your test, I’d hate to think that you think poorly of me Violet.’ 

Violet can feel her body heating up, turning red.  _ She’s not interested Violet reminds herself.  _ ‘I do,’ Violet replies. Clementine raises her eyebrows. ‘I mean, I don’t… think poorly… I mean… I don’t think highly… I don’t know you… but I think I could… think highly… of you.’  _ Fuck. Real Smooth.  _ Violet tries not to meet Clementine’s eyes.

Clementine touches Violet’s shoulder softly, the weight of her hand sending butterflies fluttering through Violet’s whole system. ‘I think I could think highly of you too Violet,’ Clementine says softly with a smile. 

‘Oh,’ Violet says, her cheeks definitely red, ‘uh, thanks Clementine.’ Clementine removes her hand from Violet’s shoulder and Violet feels unexplainably cold, as though her whole source of heat had come from Clementine’s palm. 

‘Why don’t you call me Clem?’ Clementine asks. ‘Everyone else does, automatically, it seems.’ 

‘Oh… uh… you introduced yourself as Clementine,’ Violet responds, feeling increasingly more awkward. ‘So I thought I’d call you what you wanted to be called, unless you want me to call you Clem.’

Clementine quirks her head to the side, looking very much like a puppy who is particularly interested in something, ‘and it matters what I want to be called?’ 

Violet nods hard. ‘Yeah. It does. If you want to be called Clem, I’ll call you Clem. And if you want to be called Clementine, I’ll make sure everyone calls you Clementine. It’s your name. You should have a right to choose, you know.’  

‘You’re pretty sweet, you know that Violet,’ Clementine says softly. Violet is kind of surprised. Sweet was not an attribute people assigned to her. Usually the exact opposite. Clementine continues in that soft barely more than a whisper way, ‘I like it when you call me Clementine. But I wouldn’t mind it if you called me Clem either.’ 

Violet couldn’t help the smile she felt on her face. ‘Well I don’t mind if you call me Vi sometimes either.’ Clementine smiled back. 

The moment is ruined when a sleepy AJ walks in to the courtyard, calling Clementine’s name. Clementine excuses herself and climbs down to the boy. She picks him up in a bear hug and carries him inside. 

  
Clementine’s words from last night echo in Violet’s head.  _ Not interested.  _ Violet has no idea what that means but one thing is clear. Violet is certainly interested in Clementine. 


End file.
